Auschwitz

During WWII, Hitler and his inner circle of commandants came up with the Final Solution to exterminate the Jews.

There were 1,200 concentration camps, with six being designated death camps in Poland, and the largest one was Auschwitz.  Our guide said that Auschwitz I already existed as a former Polish military barracks. Polish prisoners, Homosexuals, and Jews were sent to Auschwitz I and most of the structures are intact today. Needing more space, they built Auschwitz Birkenau, where the train station and some barracks remain. Our guide said the

Germans originally destroyed some local Polish homes, taking their bricks to build new barracks in Birkenau. Since building with bricks was a slow process, most of the barracks were built of wood.  When WWII ended, the local Polish people came in and took all the wood from the barracks to rebuild their homes. That is why very few wooden barracks exist today.

As the war was ending, the Germans destroyed the six gas chambers and crematoriums at Birkenau to get rid of the evidence. What is left are piles of bricks and stones. The only gas chamber and oven exist in Auschwitz I.

There are several glass cases full of items that once belonged to the Jewish people. I was overwhelmed seeing all the shoes. But what really got my attention was turning the corner and seeing these tiny shoes and clothing that had once been worn by a toddler.

Our guide said that Hitler, in his youth, wanted to major in the arts and was rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.  The reason?  They said he had no talent. And the professor who rejected him was Jewish.

The guide told us that 80% who got off the train went straight to the gas chamber, while 20% were chosen to work in the camp.  She said they died a slow, painful death of starvation and exhaustion.

She commented that was even worse.

I am standing in front of the wall where many prisoners were shot to death.

Words cannot describe my experience at Auschwitz.  I couldn’t wrap my head around the evil and cruelty that happened here during WWII.

As you gaze at the photos, what is stirring inside of you?